Rudy Giuliani, an abortion rights supporter, acknowledges that he needs to win over just enough of the conservative anti-abortion vote to squeak by in the Republican presidential primaries early next year.
But how can he do that when prominent leaders are threatening to bolt to a third party if he wins the GOP nomination? For Giuliani, that's easy. He'll do what he's always done with his foes as a politician: he'll confront them.
After hedging - and even skipping the "Value Voters Debate" two weeks ago - Giuliani agreed today to attend the Value Voters Summit of the Family Research Council on the morning of Oct. 20 in Washington D.C. See the tenative schedule here.
Tony Perkins, who heads Family Research Council, is one of the anti-abortion leaders who met secretly and agreed to consider creating a third party if Giuliani gets the nod. Also scheduled to be at the session will be other co-conspirators in the third-party threat, including Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Dr. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Giuliani is probably hoping that at best he'll persuade some at the conference that his leadership in the face of terrorism trumps social issues, and that at worst he'll at least win points for being tough enough to show up to face his opponents.
Tom Brune
For insiders, an interesting note: The news of Giuliani's decision to go into the Lion's Den to appear at the three-day social conservative convention was first reported by Christian Broadcasting Network reporter David Brody.
Brody has given Giuliani much favorable coverage in a series of "exclusive" interviews granted by Giuliani's campaign. Brody's boss, the Rev. Pat Robertson, the conservative preacher who founded the 700 Club and the network, has been hospitable to Giuliani, inviting him to speak earlier this year at the college he founded, Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va.
Comments (5)
can this idiot get a life already....who are the morons supporting this guy? enough is enough already.
Abortion-Partial Birth
Mr. Giuliani has said that New York State law should not be changed to outlaw the [Partial-Birth Abortion] procedure.
New York Times, January 7, 1998
* * *
In 1997, Giuliani’s position was clear as he sought reelection in a city where abortion rights enjoy strong support.
At the time, his campaign chief filled out a National Abortion Rights Action League questionnaire saying Giuliani would “oppose legislation that would make criminals of doctors who perform intact D and X abortions.”
Intact dilation and extraction is the technical term for late-term abortion, which opponents call partial-birth abortion.
Kelli Conlin, executive director of NARAL’s New York affiliate, said she she (sic) “can’t imagine he would change his position. He would look pretty awkward if he did.”…
In the 1997 questionnaire, a Giuliani aide also said the mayor backed Medicaid funding for abortion and opposed any legislation to require a minor to obtain permission from a parent to obtain an abortion.
New York Daily News, August 18, 1999
* * *
An aide to Mayor Giuliani yesterday said the mayor still opposes certain restrictions on late-term abortions – a controversial position that could prevent him from winning the Conservative Party endorsement for Senate.
“The mayor is not rethinking his position,” said spokeswoman Sunny Mindel.
New York Daily News, August 18, 1999
* * *
Likely Senate candidate Mayor Giuliani says he’s sticking to his guns on opposing restrictions on so-called partial-birth abortions – a political hot potato that could cost him the Conservative Party endorsement.
“I’ve only had to deal with [the issue] as the mayor of New York and I supported it, and I don’t see any reason to change that position,” Giuliani tells “Evans & Novak” on CNN, scheduled to air today.
New York Post, October 9, 1999
* * *
For now, the mayor’s position appears firm: Earlier this month, Mr. Giuliani told The Albany Times Union that he would not support a ban on late-term abortions and that he supports the state’s abortion law. “New York shouldn’t be ashamed of the law,” Mr. Giuliani said. “That law, I think, is a fair one and works to create the necessary scope of freedom and prohibition.”
At a City Hall news conference this week, Mr. Giuliani brushed off a question about late-term abortion, saying that “my position on abortion is precisely the same today as it was yesterday. I haven’t changed over-night.”
New York Times, November 26, 1999
* * *
Giuliani, who backs abortion rights, has opposed a ban on the controversial late-term abortion procedure.
“I don’t see my position changing,” he said in Texas.
New York Post, November 30, 1999
* * *
Abortion – Taxpayer Funded
[Giuliani] would continue the city’s discretionary spending of $10 million a year on abortions not otherwise eligible for state or Federal reimbursement.
New York Times, March 9, 1989
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As mayor, Rudy Giuliani will uphold a woman’s right of choice to have an abortion. Giuliani will fund all city programs which provide abortions to insure that no woman is deprived of her right due to an inability to pay. He will oppose reductions in state funding. He will oppose making abortion illegal.
New York Times, August 4, 1989
(Emphasis Added)
Abortion
“I’d give my daughter the money for it [an abortion].”
“I never called for the overturning of Roe vs. Wade.”
Rudy Giuliani
New York Newsday, September 1, 1989
* * *
“See, I don’t equate abortion with murdering a child, which I guess puts me in conflict with the teaching of the Catholic church. Catholics in public office often make the mistake, a subtle but important one, of saying they agree with the teaching of the church, but because I’m in public office, I have to put conscience aside and enforce the law. They haven’t thought out the implication of what they’re saying. If you agree with the church, there’s no difference between murdering a one-year-old and eliminating a fetus – it’s the same act. There is a moral consequence to the elimination of a fetus, but it’s not the same thing as murder.”
Rudy Giuliani
New York, May 25, 1987
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
The simple fact is that whether I am the Mayor or [Democrat David Dinkins] the Mayor, it’s going to be the same for women who want an abortion. I’m going to fund abortion, to make certain that poor women are not deprived of an abortion, and I’m going to oppose making abortion illegal. That’s a non-issue.
Rudy Giuliani
New York Times, September 20, 1989
* * *
“I made a terrible mistake on abortion last time,” Giuliani allowed. “I should have said I was pro-choice and stopped. But I spent so much time explaining the ideology and theology of how I reached my position, nobody understood what I was saying.”
New York Post, March 3, 1992
* * *
Leaflets distributed by the Giuliani campaign …. said that he opposes restrictions to Federal Medicaid financing for abortions and opposes the Hyde Amendment, which is intended to deny support for that financing.
New York Times, June 18, 1993
* * *
At a breakfast meeting in Atlanta with Republicans who favor abortion rights, Mr. Giuliani said a political party that favored laissez-faire government in fiscal affairs should also allow people to make choices in their personal lives.
“For a party which has such a strong belief in economic choice – which really comes out of the notion of freedom – it would seem to me that it would be entirely consistent that that choice would also extend to the most personal and difficult decisions that people have to make.”
New York Times, October 24, 1994
* * *
[Giuliani] also supports New York’s abortion law “as it stands,” which allows pregnancies to be legally terminated within 24 weeks of gestation and only afterward with a physician’s consent when the mother’s life is in danger.
“I feel there are adequate protections and there shouldn’t be changes,” Giuliani said last week during a Times Union interview, adding that he would not support a ban on third-trimester abortions. “New York shouldn’t be ashamed of the law…. That law, I think, is a fair one and works to create the necessary scope of freedom and prohibition.”
Albany Times Union, November 17, 1999
* * *
My position on abortion is precisely the same today as it was yesterday. I haven’t changed overnight…. New York should not be ashamed of the [state] law [legalizing abortion].
Rudy Giuliani
Statement made to Albany Times-Union,
November 1999.
Requoted in New York Times, Nov. 26, 1999
* * *
Right now, the Mayor is pro-choice. That’s his position and that’s his position, and it hasn’t changed and the Mayor believes what he believes in.
Statement by Giuliani Senate campaign
Manager Bruce Teitelbaum, Meet the Press,
NBC, November 28, 1999, New York Times,
November 29, 1999
* * *
My position on abortion is exactly the same as it has always been, I don’t see my position on that changing.
Rudy Giuliani
New York Times, November 30, 1999
* * *
“As a Republican, it made more sense for me to be pro-choice. I think Republicans more often want people to make choices about their own lives,” and he advocated government intrusion “only to the extent necessary.”
The former mayor told the student audience: “I think some people will come to the moral choice about abortion that it is sinful or wrong. But ultimately I think it is the woman’s right and the choice she has to make.”
And: “Seven out of 10 Americans are pro-life and pro-choice. They would prefer that somebody didn’t have an abortion. They might even prefer that somebody didn’t have an abortion. They might even prefer themselves not to have an abortion. They say as far as government is concerned, it shouldn’t interfere with abortion or shouldn’t criminalize it.”
In other words, not as originally described. Mr. Giuliani’s remarks were basically what he’s been saying for years.
New York Times, November 14, 2005
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
After clarifying his clarifications, Rudy Giuliani has finally decided he’s in favor of legal abortion, a decision that will be viewed as either sensible, sad, cynical or opportunistic…. Is no one concerned about parental consent, allowing 13-year-old girls to have abortions without even telling their parents? Is no one concerned about millions of taxpayer dollars being used to fund abortions?
Is no voter concerned that the American birth rate has fallen, that we are not even reproducing ourselves because 25 million Americans have been destroyed in the womb since 1973, when abortion was made legal?
For these voters, Rudy Giuliani once seemed to offer an alternative to the full-speed-ahead Democrats, but now that hope has vanished. Rudy has joined the crowd, so there’s no debate on the greatest issue of the day, and that makes all of us losers. It may yet make Rudy a loser, too. Why change for more of the same?
Ray Kerrison, Columnist
New York Post, August 9, 1987
* * *
He is a bright and talented manager. But he’s also a skillful compromiser and some principles simply cannot be negotiated away….he parts company on an issue about which there can be no compromise, no negotiation. Rudolph Giuliani not only supports the right to choose an abortion, he also supports the right to perform partial birth abortion. He would defend the right to slaughter a fully-formed and healthy nine month old pre-born on the day it’s being born.
“Rudy’s Smoke Screen,” Msgr. James Lisante
The Long Island Catholic, November 24, 1999
* * *
JIm Kelly - Conservative Campaigns
Jim Kelly....Why must you glut this blog with your quotes ? This is a vital issue and you diminish it with your presentation. Divide it and present it in pieces small enough for readers to absorb. No matter how I agree with you, the people who wade through this are already on your side in this issue. Smaller presentations might attract others to this cause.
Those quotes were the most cheerful and enlightening thing I have read all week!
If a 13-year-old is in a position to need an abortion, her parents DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT to know anything, because they obviously have been neglectful at the least... potentially even the CAUSE of her current predicament. If your family values are so strong you support parental consent laws, you should reevaluate your family -- if you fear your daughter would not come to you first, YOU have done something very wrong.
Any fiscasl conservative who does not support Medicaid funding for abortions obviously knows very little about economics -- a first trimester abortion is a very simple non-invasive or minimally invasive procedure that can be done in a clinic or doctor's office for under $1000... compare this to the cost of prenatal care, childbirth and 18 years of Medicaid coverage...